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Published: November 30th 2006
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It is a sad fact that Women's Rights are not respected in Colombia, that Children's Rights are also totally disregarded. I think that being in Eafit most of the time and hanging out in Parque Lleras at weekends doesn't really help me get the entire image of Colombia, to say the least.
I don't think I really know what Colombia is about , in terms of real issues and populationwise concerns. We talk about paramilitary and guerrilla, but I honestly think we don't really grasp the immensity of the problems, as we, the foreigners are very far from all these daily issues and concerns. We are safe in the big cities and we feel safe seeing patrols and police in the streets, these storys are just something we hear and talk about, actually unknowingly.
The death toll has gone down a great deal since the times when Colombia used to be a battle field, only a few years ago, but the fight continues. It is something that doesn't affect the cities anymore , the cities are safe, the villages and the countrysides are the ones in danger. Dispalced people are the ones who, fearing for their lives, abandon
FIGHTING FOR WOMEN RIGHTS
PICTURE SHOWING donde te duele cuando te maltraton !! their fincas and country houses and run to the cities with a few belongings, hoping to safe their lives. Once they get to the big cities, there is nothing waiting for them, but disappointment and lack of employment. The government and some private associations try to come to the rescue with some social programs that seem to be on the right track. Colombian people say there isn't enough done for the displaced people, I say let's look at the bright side and try to see that something is being done! There are so many displaced people without any hope to get a job, as agriculture is everything they know, they have no qualifications what so ever so finding jobs in the cities and a place to live can be quite problematic.
ALCANCE SOCIAL is a governmental project trying to help displaced people start their own business, little family
negocios with some funds from the state- 900.000 pesos, roughly 350 US $, which is not a lot, but enough to start a little family business if you have some experience , inventiveness and
ganas de seguir adelante- a will to go on. It actually works and it works well. In
selling handicrafts for a living
they produce them, but they have no place where to sell them.In their barios nobody has money to buy things like these! They barely can buy food ! association with AIESEC, they brought some foreigners interested in this project and they work in the main cities in Colombia trying to do their best to learn fast about the problems here, to get hands-on experience and to help as much as they can and with everything that they can. The impact is absolutely amazing, as Colombians in need see that the foreigners do care about what happens to them and this team of absolutely great people- students or recent graduates are so much into their work and have such a drive and desire to understand and help, that it just makes you realize that things can change for the better!
One of the actions that took place today was entitled
NO MAS VIOLENCIA CONTRA LA MUJER!! and it was a sort of a fair with organizations brought together in Plaza Botero where they had different presentations, exhibitions fighting for Women Rights and also a dozen of Colombian women who have been working with ALCANCE SOCIAL and they produce handicraft.They were offered the opportunity and had a chance to exhibit and sell their hand-made products.
They also had some fliers and brochures speaking up for Women Rights with
no mas violencia!!!
no mas violencia contra las mujeres! figures that demonstrate that Colombia is still far behind,nearly in the Stone Age when it comes to Human Rights: 200 women per day suffer some kind of molestion only in Bogota!! Women , especially the ones that live in the poor slums have no rights whatsoever. They are at their husbands' mercy and even worse, they are many times the target of abuse of paramilitary and guerrilla. They are seen as objects, they are beaten, molested, they are abused, harassed, raped and so are their children who get to see all of these and also many times go through the same nightmare.
Children playing with knifes is not an unusual sight in these neighbourhoods, believe it, I have seen it with my own eyes. What does the future hold for them? Tears. Violence. A life of stealing, robbing, fighting, selling candies on buses, learning to do whatever it takes to get a piece of bread. They have no education, most of them have only the clothes they have on, and nothing more.
Colombia has many faces and I don't want to close my eyes and see only the parties and la Zona Rosa. Colombia is about people who
cookies saying
MUJERES COMO ESCLAVAS NUNCA MAS!!! take you in their homes and share with you the only piece of bread they have.
Colombia is people sleeping on the asphalt downtown and police passing by nonchalantly.
Colombia is children with no future and women beaten to death who have nowhere to go.
There is not very much that I can do and I feel little here and I know I can't do a whole lot, all I can do actually is write about what I see and let the world know. I was just stunned to see these women 's faces, to see the bed sheets where they have written their experiences, pictures showing their beaten bodies. This happening in the 21st century. How can we help ? How can we make this stop?
This little organizations with insufficient funds, they have some amazing people that put so much of their soul in what they do, they work wholeheartedly with these poor displaced people. I was talking to a friend the other day. People in these barrios are so accustomed to the feeling of fear and terror, that they don't even know otherwise, that they think it is just part of life and routine, terror
and violence reach a point where they become part of normality. Normality! Can you believe it? Living every day in terror can get to be part of everyday normaily....
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